In keeping with the Doors-themed threads . . .
Other than that, there’s no new news out of the rumor maelstrom that is 4949 Centennial Blvd in Santa Clara. I suspect things quiet down for a while as these guys hunker down and try to come to some sort of concensus. Short-term at least . . .
The big news is this is the day for DBs at the NFL combine is Indianapopolilissss. My dream CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste is going to run, and hopefully he sticks around the low 4.5 area. He has shown skill as a press-cover guy, but can also play off the line and zone. Size up the wazoo. Keith McGill is another big guy who has the flexibility to be a press-cover guy. He’s big himself, so these guys could possibly rocket to the 2nd round or higher if they put up anything in the 4.4 range.
Smaller guys like Kyle Fuller, Louie Purifoy, and his teammate Marcus Roberson will be around in round 2, so they may get a look. They are all fast. Purifoy had some shitty games, and off field trouble as well so there you go.
Apropos of nothing, Clowney’s 4.47 is flat crazy.
Forty Niners Forever 
Fuller: 4:49
Jean-Baptiste: 4:61
McGill: 4:51
Purifoy: 4:61
Roberson: 4:61
I’ve always preferred Purifoy over his teammate, Roberson. He’d at least contribute on STs right away. And his has a cool name, Loucheiz.
Baptiste is disappointing. He won’t move up. Which is good I suppose. McGill put in a good time. He’s an interesting guy.
And, since Kawakami hasn’t stirred the shit in a couple days . . . he’s pretty much saying what we have. Except that he thinks Baalke wins any power struggle since he has Jedi Jed on his side . . .
http://www.mercurynews.com/tim-kawakami/ci_25219701/kawakami-jim-harbaugh-at-center-storm?source=rss
Maiocco has the same opinion:
Matt Maiocco CSN: I’m not Jed York, but let’s just say . . . Baalke is going nowhere. Jim Harbaugh will be the first person of those three to no longer be employed by the 49ers. Because of Harbaugh’s personality, he would have problems with anybody in the GM position.
I concur.
12 Maiocco just wants his man Tomsula as HC.
/joke/
BLEEP Kawakami! If he’s not knee deep in sports shit he’s on vacation.
I don’t think Baalke wins a power struggle. He might have Jed on his side, but Harbaugh has the fans on his side. You wait. Give it some time.
If the fans mattered, the stadium would be in San Francisco. Don’t be deulsional.
Fans are suckers for expensive sports.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10511439/san-francisco-49ers-quickly-rejected-cleveland-browns-jim-harbaugh-talks-owner-jed-york-says
Here’s a good article, with perspective. I think Herm Edwards is right (in the clip above). I also think Unca is right that the team will try to quiet this issue for a long while. And Unca, the stadium and 49ers moving to Santa Clara is all the more reason why the fans would matter and support Harbaugh. But Jed’s been pretty clear he wants Harbaugh to be the long term head coach. This is a good thing for 49er fans.
Fans will show up no matter who the coach happens to be that’s how hungry fans are for a new stadium and image from the tired old Stick. Harbaugh is no fool. Make some noise but quietly handle his business in future behind closed doors.
Baalke doesn’t ‘have to’ go anywhere but Sir Jed needs to fix the relations between HC and GM- and give Jimi whatever he reasonably wants so he’s happy in his new contract. Lose Baalke we survive while Jimi grows up. Lose Harbaugh this franchise starts another slide into irrelevancy.
Longer this goes on the worse it gets. Next year at this time w/o a contact this will look like a Sunday school picnic.
Walmart could help with some free khaki pants.
Harbaugh is not going anywhere!
It took the Dorks (uh Yorks) forever to find the right coach, and every true Niner fan knows this!!
If I’m Boldin, I’m creating some kind of out in my contract if Jim Harbaugh leaves or is traded. I don’t think Harbaugh goes anywhere, but the recent scuffle makes me nervous if I’m an offensive player on the 49ers, which is ironic.
According to this article by Nip’s favorite Kawakami, Baalke is actually the biggest control freak which also equates to biggest “prick”. Harbaugh is the emotional one and makes waves but inspires the players and the fans.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2014/02/25/how-did-the-jim-harbaugh-trent-baalke-breach-open-up-lets-go-back-through-it-owen-marecic-a-j-jenkins-aldon-smith/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+kawakami-merc+%28Talking+Points+with+Tim+Kawakami%29
Selected quotes:
Harbaugh never asked for personnel powers during those negotiations and he hasn’t asked recently, I’m told. He doesn’t want to be a GM–you think he wants to put together draft boards, review 30 game tapes of potential 6th-rounders from New Mexico or spend all of March going to Baylor/Maryland/Colorado/Nebraska pro days and gossiping with college coaches and other execs?
No, he does not. Harbaugh also wants no part of actually negotiating with players for new contracts
* What Harbaugh is looking for, without specifically saying so or asking for it, is a personnel guy who fits his style at this point.
* The 2012 draft was not Baalke’s finest hour–A.J. Jenkins and LaMichael James were the 1st- and 2nd-round picks, and that was just a start of the fizzle–and I don’t think Harbaugh has been thrilled with Baalke’s draft judgments ever since.
Baalke didn’t get along with Singletary either, and if you contribute Reid and Kaepernick to a Harbaugh find, that leaves Baalke with finding Aldon Smith, who was a top ten pick and should be good that high. However, I will say nobody anticipated Aldon Smith, so props to Baalke for going against conventional wisdom and finding a gem…. albeit a problems gem.
We need to take a closer look at Baalke’s drafts. But this article does confirm what I thought earlier – Harbaugh just wants a good working relationship with his front office, and he doesn’t have it. Not that Harbaugh’s an easy guy to work with, but instinctively we all know if something’s working or not.
Spit, make no mistake, Baalke found the talent.
That’s his call, everyday and twice on Sunday.
He’s won more then he’s lost, in terms of his successful selections.
GMs build rosters.
HCs organize and get production from them.
Singletary fought hard for Taylor Mays apparently.
Do we blame Baalke for turning in the Draft Selection Card?
He apparently appeased Singletary on that one, only to prove his point perhaps?
Mays was dealt, after Singletary was relieved of duty.
It’s got to work between HC and GM.
This is what happens when it doesn’t.
Yeah, NJ. I’m sure Baalke found Colin Kaepernick, went to Nevada to throw him him, liked all the tangibleness. I’m also sure that Harbaugh recruiting Eric Reid, getting to know his parents and things like that had no effect on the 49ers’ decision to draft Reid. Whatever.
Not saying Harbaugh had nothing to do with it Spit, it has to be a good relationship in order to get the proper pieces in place.
This rift is surprising in the sense, that it comes on the heels of Jim missing the prize for 3 straight years.
What’s wrong now that wasn’t wrong then?
Almost sounds like a cop out to me.
We didn’t win because Baalke didn’t give me the right players?
Maybe the gameplans sucked?
It’s a 2-way street, that’s all I’m suggesting.
Work it out or, find another venue Jim.
I seldom got along with my bosses. I know the feelin…….
I dislike authority figures! BOO! Hiss!
Maybe we should interview Nipper for the sure to be, soon to be open Niner head coaching job?
I do NOT want to return to the land of Jed pre-Harbaugh. Fire Roman. If necessary, fire Baalke. For shits and giggles, Jed fire yourself.
“Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” -Edmund Burke
Wake me when we have a real topic.
For those that have posted dislike for the current Offensive philosophy, what exactly would we expect to gain by giving Harbaugh further input on the type of players he’d prefer to have?
Boring would simply get that much more boring if Jim had his way.
Baalke has a vision for the type of team he’s spent years constructing.
Given that Jim has taken it to another level, suggests that the WR position might just be more of an indictment on Harbaugh than on Baalke.
Phil, your analogy about LMJ possibly being used as a divisive tool is a good one.
I initially thought Harbaugh preferred him, maybe that’s not the case?
If Harbaugh feels he should have more input into personnel selections, it would make me believe the Offense has no real chance of becoming what many of believe it should become.
Spit, regarding the AJJ Pick, and suggestions that Harbaugh isn’t enamored with the personnel options Baalke is providing, could it be possible Harbaugh fought the Pick and torpedoed him?
Seems a little ironic, in hindsight, that AJJ was dealt for Baldwin, who happened to be a recruit of Harbaugh’s perhaps?
Maybe this passing deficiency we’re experiencing has more to do with Harbaugh’s philosophy then it does with Baalkes’ talent evaluation?
Jed has to be more instrumental in getting these guys back onto the same page.
It can’t improve if the philosophy differences can’t be ironed out.
Either you rebuild the team Baalke has constructed or, you change the HC to fit the roster that has been assembled.
It’s starting to look like a case of irreconcilable differences.
Not good.
Baalke’s been here longer than Harbaugh, so the idea of smashmouth predated Harbaugh as well. Roman is certainly enamored of the run, so will more Harbaugh be a good thing? I’d say yes, but I’m still pissed off at the red zone offense,
As far as AJJ and LMJ go, I’m about 90% Harbaugh limited them unitl absoliutely force to use them.
It’s getting more inauspicious by the day Chuck.
As more information is leaked about this rift, I’m wondering just how childish this nonsense can get?
Granted, our team was about Frank for years.
Perhaps Baalke envisioned Kendall and LMJ as the way to the future?
We’ve all been calling for it, dump offs, screens etc.
The Red Zone approach is squarely on the Coaching IMO.
Be it Harbaugh or Roman, they’re the package deal in that scenario.
For me, the philosopical differences are a volatile issue, if accurate.
I never would have suspected, that Baalke had not had that worked out, before bringing Jim to the job.
Or, could this have festered into it’s current state, because Jim didn’t win the prize and feels Baalke should take the blame?
Money is easier to negotiate I think.
Philosophical difference between HC and GM could be too divisive to overcome.
Chuck I’m of the belief that the GM builds the beast.
He’s assembling the vision he has for the roster and what he believes he can achieve with it.
The HC organizes and fine tunes the components.
Knowing what we know of the on-field results, it’s 100% on Harbaugh IMO.
He backed Kaep’s decision to go after Crabtree in Seattle, which now makes me believe he was instrumental in that same decision vs Baltimore in the SB.
Myopic view of Offensive philosophy in my view.
Can’t put that on Baalke for 1 second.
Yeah there’s no blaming Baalke about game planning, O schemes, what players to use, etc. Agree. Problem is as mentioned the players (“mine” vs “yours”) get benched if HC doesn’t like ’em. Then the O suffers and we lose games especially big games where all this hidden shit is exposed as we have seen.
That’s pretty much it Phil.
Baalke built the roster, brought in the guy he thought could polish it up and see it through, only to get stalled from the pinnacle.
How do you fault the GM?
Either Jim rethinks his Offensive philosophy or, he’s got to go.
I can’t see any other option, short of blowing the whole thing up.
Baalke runs this show, his players, his design.
If Harbaugh can’t operate the machinery, someone else will have to learn how to do it.
Sure there’s another option: let Hendrix have more say in personnel matters. Baalke backs down.
BUT will it work? Big question and some risk too. Maybe Jedi sticks with the status quo and the GM as is. Then the question is after JH leaves next year (off season) who is our HC?
Good point NJ- maybe we get what we’re wishing for = more Jimi control and we wind up tearing our hair out because the O becomes More inept, unbalanced and/or ineffective? It’s quite possible and that’s scary. RZ woes get worse and the O is more predictable? Shudder. I called for new coaching blood on O and we got Mangina fer TE coach. Well okay get the man more experience. Forget Tomsula; is this our next HC or OC = Mangina? Yeah maybe I’m guessing. When Jimi leaves after this year (please God No) he’ll be in place…
Agree the O scheme is largely on the coaching staff = Jimi, Roman and the implementation + use of players is all on them. When they got here in 2011 and later Kap took over the Niners were unpredictable and hard to stop. 2013 after the opener vs GB we looked like a Nolan/Singletron offense = conservative, pathetic. Has this really changed except for our running QBs ability?
Better fer sure if these 2 hot shots are able to work it out and find a common vision/plan/division of duties but I’m worried that they won’t and that we’ve seen our best days under the current regime.
2014 is going to be velly intelisting!
Phil I never got to see much of the Harbaugh Offense while he was at Stanford.
Whether he employed anything of substance, in the passing game, while there or not.
Knowing what I see now, I’ve contended that the Offense was predicated on the running game, which has largely been due to Frank.
Harbaugh certainly employed it, which is fine, because is was the staple ingredient.
This finger pointing rift, almost seems like an excuse Harbaugh is using, to diminish his failures, to win in the past 3 attempts.
You can’t convince me that the passing game, or lack thereof, is something Baalke is failing at.
I’d have to assume that Jim, or Roman, just don’t have any answers for it.
It’s been debated here for months.
I’m beginning to think Baalke has an idea about what he expects to get, from the personnel he’s selected, while Jim is insisting on doing something differently.
At this point, I just can’t buy the argument that the architect designed a bad team.
Jim got a gem here, he’s just been unable to push it across the finish line, so he’s lobbying for a different roster.
Horsesh!t
Go to Jacksonville, where owner Shad Khan has a vault full of money to spend and, a roster that has to be rebuilt.
In a scenario like that, Harbaugh could likely find nirvana.
Romans’ buddy David Caldwell is the GM there too, they’re Drafting high and, Jim can have his way perhaps.
My new answer to the problem.
Trade Harbaugh to Jacksonville for a couple of Picks next year.
Perhaps Jim’s lust for money and power is blinding him of the fact, that building a team in his image, will take years.
Baalke has already paid those dues in SF.
Let Jim throw his tantrums in a losing environment like that.
He’ll help them fill the seats too.
Buh bye Jim, thanks for the memories.
And the Draft Picks.
The way it’s set up at moment is that Jimi gets more control over personnel and Baalke accepts this. (Why not I ask? Because he’s a control freak too I answer). OR Hendrix walks and we take our chances with whomever. Prolly that’s more likely so Sir Jedi is looking at getting a new HC. I nominate Mangina.
Whaddaya think?
Kawakami in the link I posted above made 2 points relative to Jimi’s MO = he does like to blame other team execs when things don’t go right:
-“Harbaugh also wants no part of actually negotiating with players for new contracts; in fact, the Harbaugh strategy is partly to set other execs up for blame when these things occasionally and inevitably break down.
It’s not a new strategy and it almost always works–the coach wins locker room support, the players grumble about the execs and maybe new, cheaper, younger and better players arrive, anyway. Win-win for the coach, right?”
That’s point #1. #2 is a link to a Matt Barrows article where he sez Jimi likely will have issues with whomever the (next?) personnel guy is. Sez Barrows. I’ll try to find MBs article but link wasn’t working earlier.
So let’s say Hendrix walks, a distinct possibility next year. Jed knows this and has to be checking the lists of available coaching replacements. I’ve said Mangina is my best guess right now. Surely this has occurred to the FO. No way Jed is not thinking along these lines NOW
I’ll go the Jacksonville route Phil.
Perfect match IMO.
Get some Picks from them, they get a successful, though volatile, HC.
Jim parrots the Team, Team, Team mantra, yet appears to be subversive in his efforts.
Cap management is no easy nut to crack.
Marathe’s position is one that I believe, is sorely lacking in many other franchises.
That hire goes to Jed.
He nailed it.
We were in Cap H3LL before he arrived.
He, Paraag, single handedly repaired that issue in quick fashion.
Took the punishment of letting Garcia and others walk, while restructuring the ledger with smart extensions and cheap Draftees provided by Baalke.
Jim is the odd man out of this equation for me.
You don’t blow up the project, that took years to build, because the HC can’t win with it.
The other option NJ is Baalke backs down, deals with his own addiction to domination and control, and Jimi gets more say in personnel matters. Why does this “blow the whole shebang up”?
Because Baalke put it together with some sort of expectations in mind Phil.
The simplest solution is, for Jim and Trent to find common ground on personnel.
Maybe that’s not as easy as it might sound?
What I’m suggesting is, don’t change horses in the middle of the stream.
Either Jim can’t devise a passing strategy or, Baalke can’t Draft WRs.
Pick your poison.
Knowing what we know now, Baalke isn’t Coaching the Offense.
But he blew the 2012 draft to hell with his great selections. But he’s got a plan in place? Try as you will there’s no dismissing TBs great 2012 draft. You and Jed may be happy with TB but the HC thinks he can do better working with someone less addicted to control and forcing players on JH he doesn’t want. This is how I see the dysfunctional relationship of the Niners FO impacting the success on the field. Feel free to defend the status quo but I’m not buying “It’s Jimi’s fault”
BTW got a new Windows 8 notebook so can write more, quicker. See last night. Dinner’s coming up so will return in a couple hours to continue our debate.
I don’t think Harbaugh wants to be the GM I think he just wants the final say, on everything. Coaches rarely get that much power, especially when they don’t come in with it.
Phil, what’s “more control over personnel?” I doubt, very seriously, Baalke doesn’t listen to what and who Harbaugh wants already. If Harbaugh wants to pay all the guys he says he wants to pay we will quickly be in cap hell again and suffer through no roster for five years. And Harbaugh will be long gone before it gets right again.
It didn’t occur to me that Harbaugh was rubbing it in Baalke’s face when he would announce he wanted to pay players to come back. Thinking about it in that light, makes me think even less of Harbaugh.
Also wonder how do people think Harbaugh makes such a stink with Baalke for control but leaves the offensive play calling to Roman as if he would have run something else?
Spitblood, lots of people knew about Aldon Smith. Rex Ryan wanted to trade up for him, for one. Jets didn’t give him that much power. They let Rex have his man in the seventh round, he picked McKnight (who wasn’t going to get drafted by anyone anyway). That’s why the coach doesn’t get final say.
The more I chew on the rumblings NoFear49er, the more I’m thinking Harbaugh is deflecting blame, for his failure at getting the Brass Ring, with his 3 attempts.
If you can’t win, blame the GM?
I’m all for being fair in the dispute but, this team took years to build.
It needed a HC to get it organized, which Harbaugh did in spades.
He’s being loyal to his troops, I respect that but, Baalke assembled them.
Plus, those troops have to get paid, which involves the management skills Paraag provides.
I can’t be convinced that Harbaugh getting more control, would improve anything.
At least with the limited information we lemmings obtain via the media.
The HC has plenty of talent, courtesy of Baalke.
Baalke isn’t running the plays.
Seems to me, Baalke has a plan in place.
A vision if you will?
I wouldn’t expect any GM not to have some sort of an idea about the types of players he’s Drafting.
Those like Jerruh, who Draft without a well defined blueprint get what Jerruh gets.
8-8 records and lot’s of revolving doors in the coaching ranks.
Once you have a successful model, find someone to operate it.
If the engineering is/was bad, it wouldn’t sustain success.
How many other franchises in recent years have maintained the success we’ve achieved?
Baltimore imploded because of bad Cap ramifications.
Pittsburgh got old.
New England couldn’t sustain a Defense.
It’s a difficult balance.
I think Baalke/Marathe have gotten things in balance pretty well.
Jim needs to get his head out of his A$$ and realize he can’t have it his way.
Especially when he’s the one who failed on the field.
Yeah Jimi had a piss poor draft in ’12. Who was it got “all them” great players he won’t put on the field? Yep 100% fault of Hendrix. Uh huh. JH ‘got’ one = LMJ. But yeah Jimi’s fault with the stable of studs he drafted. Worst draft in a long time but it’s the HC fault. You overlook that NJ. I believe JH has as much if not more successful experience evaluating talent as Baalke. Look at all the Stanford players ie, Luck, playing today. We went over all this last night so I’m not going to answer the assertion ‘it’s HC fault; he can’t win with the great players he drafted.” We disagree, no big.
And that NF is why Jimi wants more control over personnel = as mentioned above by Kawakami and quoted by a couple of us: so he can get more input with a personnel guy he trusts. Clearly that is not Baalke. His 2012 draft was rotten. Hendrix does not trust the judgement of Trent Baalke. Can you blame him? Or is Trent Baalke all that good? Obviously Jimi’s not too impressed.
Phil we’re not Drafting necessarily for immediate impact at this point.
Reid was probably the most immediate ‘need’ guy and he/they nailed it.
I simply want these guys to get together and work it out.
If that can’t be accomplished, I’d have to side with Baalke.
He put the bulk of this roster together before Jim got here.
They took off with Jim but fell short.
Just rubs me the wrong way that after 3 years it’s becoming a GM/personnel issue?
Get it ironed out or move on.
I can’t buy it.
NJ looks like we’re the last two men standing here tonight. Heck even NF folded his tent after his one post and he’s our other night owl.
No one in the 2012 draft will be around long term when LMJ gets his papers and that’s not good. Yes this we agree on: get this conflict worked out as it has and will affect our short and long term prospects. JH has his issues getting the offense up to speed and needs good players he can have confidence in to make it happen. Critically important to get a HC and a GM on the same page and apparently we don’t have that. I’m as sick as you are that it’s come to this impasse (?).
We shall see.
Chuck I’m going to suggest yer labeling the thread announcing Niners (hopefully) resolving this mess: Break on Through To The Other Side.
Yeah